Planned Parenthood Loses in Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia has just zeroed out Planned Parenthood's funding. Other states should follow Virginia's lead.

The amendment, cutting up to a half million dollars in funding from the abortion giant, passed by the narrowest of margins. The vote in the Virginia Senate was 20 votes in favor of the amendment and 20 against, and Lt. Governor Bolling had to break the tie. The amendment could still be vetoed by Governor Kaine later this month, although this would tarnish the moderate image he is trying to project. In all likelihood, Planned Parenthood faces a complete funding cut, and one that will last at least until 2010.

Feminist groups originally aimed their ire at Republican Ken Cuccinelli, who introduced the legislation. But they soon found a new target: Senator Charles Colgan, a pro-life Democrat who broke party ranks to cross the aisle and vote with Republicans.

Colgan faced withering opposition from within his own party in the days leading up to the vote, yet held firm to his pro-life convictions. "It was pretty tough," Colgan told the Associated Press on the 27th. "They really wanted me to change my position, but I couldn't do it." His vote turned an expected 21 to 19 defeat of the amendment into a 20-20 tie, which in turn brought in Lt. Gov. Bolling to cast the tie-breaking vote against Planned Parenthood.

The vote was greeted with near hysteria by Planned Parenthood's supporters, who over the years they have come to think of taxpayer funding for its sterilization and contraception programs, which largely target Blacks and other minorities, as a right.

"This amendment is not intended to save money," complained an opinion piece in the Commonwealth Times. "It is a way for lawmakers to get around Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that made abortions legal in the United States, without directly confronting the constitutionality of the decision."

Never mind that this legislative decision does not in any way address the constitutionality of abortion, only whether Virginia residents should be forced to fund an abortion group with their tax dollars. The Times apparently believes that abortion-on-demand is a human right, and that groups who perform abortions should automatically receive state funding.

The pro-choice blog Feministing.com is quick to pigeonhole all pro-life senators as "anti-choice." The web site insists that these lawmakers "aren't concerned about preventing abortion – if they were, they'd be touting birth control – their real concern is limiting women's choices and rolling back our rights."

The idea that pro-life senators spend their time plotting to find ways to subjugate modern women is laughable, especially given the fact that the deciding vote was cast by Charles Colgan, a moderate Democrat from Manassas.

Another feminist site, Feministe, goes a step further. Not only does it claim that Planned Parenthood helps to prevent abortions, but it further maintains that the funds would have gone toward non-abortion-related activities, anyway. "Jill," one of the blog's contributors, says, "Federal aid, and state aid from Virginia, are not paying for abortions. They are paying for pre-natal care, women's health care, birth control, and sexual health education. Millions of women across the country benefit from those programs — and I'm one of them."

Perhaps someone should explain the concept of fungibility to "Jill." All the money that Planned Parenthood receives goes into the same kitty, and is impossible to track from there. As long as Planned Parenthood performs abortions, there is no way to give them money without in some way funding those abortions.

The Population Research Institute commends this pro-life amendment, and we would like to encourage other states to follow Virginia's example.

It's not as if Planned Parenthood needs the money. The abortion giant turns a huge profit each year, and has an endowment of over a half billion dollars. Killing babies is big business.

Years ago, Planned Parenthood declared Fr. Paul Marx, the founder of PRI, to be public enemy number one. In fact, it is Planned Parenthood itself that is the number one enemy of the American people.

In the years since Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood has killed more Americans than all the wars that America has ever fought.

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